The Alien’s Reward by Luna Kingsley

Chapter 3

Sarah

I joltawake to a high-pitched screech. Expecting to see a flock of crows overhead, my eyes fly open and search the skies before everything comes back to me. The events of the last few hours wash over me, and I start to panic…because I’m alone. I thought I was being kidnapped by the flying assassin alien that was there when we crashed but now it looks like he brought me to the mountaintop and left me.

No, none of this makes any damn sense.

He kidnapped me but then he treated my wound and made sure I was warm, only to disappear? He must be returning at some point. That’s the only explanation for this and I can’t hang around to find out what his plans for me are going to be. He killed the military escorts right in front of my eyes…this isn’t an alien I can trust.

And there were other women on the ship. Maren!

I need to get back there and find out if anyone else is still alive. If I was still alive after the crash, surely Maren was too. She was with me right when we went down. Trinity was in the cockpit with the other pilots and Willa was probably already in bed for the night.

So, why…why did the alien take me?

I glance around me now that my head seems clearer, the pain much less prominent. I’m pressed against the rock in a small enclosure, protected from three sides. From the front, there’s a wall of snow that covers the entrance. High enough that I can’t see outside without crawling right up to the barrier. Curious enough to want to know where I am exactly, I do just that. Gripping the blanket tightly around my shoulders, I crawl to the snow so I can peer over the top. There’s still light outside but it’s mostly because of the snow. It’s nearing dusk and before long I’ll be alone on the top of a mountain at night.

Except when I look out across the snow—I’m not alone.

At least six creatures stalk toward me, the size of grizzly bears but more lean muscle and skin-tearing teeth. They have pointy ears that stick up high above their heads, making it possible to see them from where I’m hidden. They’re raised and turned toward me like they’re using their hearing to hunt me.

Maybe they can hear me breathe.

I bled through my clothes before the alien was able to close my wound. They can smell me…I know it. How do I hide from a pack of carnivores when they scent my blood and hear me breathing? And why would my alien kidnapper leave me all alone up here?

I’m helpless in this position and it only causes my anger to swell until it barely feels like it’ll fit inside of my body anymore. None of this was supposed to happen but if I was going to die, I should’ve died in the crash with the rest of my friends. Not up on the top of a mountain all by myself. If I ever see this alien again and I’m not animal meat, we’re going to have words. He may not understand my words, but I’ll say them, nonetheless.

But first, I need to figure out if there’s somewhere I can hide from these beasts intent on finding me. The wall of snow doesn’t provide any protection. They’ll break through it in no time. Freeing my feet from the blanket, I slip around the side of the peak, staying close to the rocks, hoping there’ll be somewhere more fortified to hide. Unfortunately, there’s nothing but rock. My leg is still sore, but I suck it up and do my best to climb up the peak, hoping these beasts aren’t skillful climbers.

Adrenaline fuels me when I have nothing left because it doesn’t take long before the deep growls can be heard behind me. Jaws click and snap as they lunge for my feet. My arms are tired, but I pull myself higher anyway. I make the mistake of looking behind me, only to get an up-close view of these creatures that want to kill me. Their eyes are a deep blood red, their coarse fur a midnight blue. They carry a heavy, musky odor that makes me scrunch my nose. Not that it should matter that they smell bad because regardless they want to kill me.

My arms and legs begin to shake while I cling to the side of the peak. I haven’t really gone up that far, but it has managed to give me time. Though now that I’m up here, I’ve trapped myself in a corner. As soon as my strength gives out, I’ll slide down right into one of their waiting jaws. All these thoughts are happening quickly as one of the creatures tries to climb after me.

I’m clinging tightly to the peak until I’m suddenly plucked from the rocks and carried high into the air. It takes a moment for my brain to make sense of what’s happening. The flying alien is back and he’s carrying me underneath his body, taking me far away from the creatures interested in eating me. Glancing to the sides, there are at least two more flying aliens traveling with us. It’s nearly dark but I can make out the flying shadows, nonetheless.

While I’m relieved not to be on that peak, my current situation isn’t much better. I don’t know what this alien wants with me. I don’t even know if I’m lucky he’s kept me alive while the rest of my crew is possibly dead.

I’m cold, wishing I could wrap myself more fully in this blanket again and turn the crank on the heat. The wind whips against my body from up here and it’s so much colder at this altitude than when were on the ground. After a while, our pace slows, the lazy trail of smoke still slithering toward the sky indicating we’re nearing the crash site. Maybe…just maybe, they’ve decided to return me.

We land and the area is dark and too quiet. The dead bodies of the marines still lie lifeless on the ground surrounding the ship. Without thinking I’ve started to move toward the ship, thoughts of my friends and whether I’ll find their dead bodies somewhere inside on my mind. Before I can get too far, a strong hand wraps around my arm, stopping me.

The alien stares at me, those intense blue eyes clearly trying to tell me something. I glance at the other two aliens and they’re staring at me as well. As if I’m supposed to know what we’re doing here. It’s dark now and I can’t distinguish their features aside from their height and mass being similar to my captor’s.

When it becomes obvious they’re waiting for me to do something, I put my hands up and shrug, gesturing in that sassy teenage way that always sent my mom through the roof during my middle school years. They’re going to need to try harder to get their point across because I’m beyond lost right now.

The alien gripping my arm motions up and down my body while making a string of sounds that I don’t understand. My expression changes to show my confusion but that’s about it. Then the other two chime in, saying the same thing as if it’ll make any more sense by having it repeated over and over again.

I grow distracted by the touch of the alien’s hand on my arm because the longer it remains, the warmer that place on my body becomes. It’s like his hand works in a similar manner to the blanket he gave me when I was cold at the top of the mountain. I’m questioning whether his body regulates temperature differently and how his touch sends tingling warmth through my arm when I realize it has grown quiet again. The alien who’s holding me walks me forward until we reach the wide hole in the side of the ship. He bends down and steps inside, taking me by the hand so I’m forced to follow him.

I still don’t know what their intentions are, but now that we’re here I plan on finding out what happened to my friends. “Maren!” I say, second guessing a loud shout because it’s already so eerily quiet. Walking through the dark corridors, it’s like something straight out of the movie Alien right before something creepy crawly jumps out from the shadows. Still, I need to know if any of the women aboard survived. “Maren! Trinity!”

My alien escort extends his arm behind him, pressing his palm flat to my chest and stopping me in my tracks. I still don’t hear a thing, but his ears twitch back and forth before he takes my hand and we turn to the left, moving deeper into the ship. It’s too dark for me to see anything so I stumble a few times, even falling into the alien’s wings once. Somehow, he can see where we’re going. His eyesight must be as impressive as his hearing.

Soon we reach the section of the ship where the sleeping quarters are located. This is where the alien stops, just outside the door. We exchange looks and though I still can’t hear anything, I gather this is where the sounds are coming from. I test the handle and though it moves, I’m unable to push the door open.

The alien moves me out of the way with his arm, repositioning me so I’m off to the side. Then, he slams his body weight against the door, and it flies open, causing a massive crash from the inside. High-pitched screams cause my heart rate to spike because it means I’m not the only one who survived the crash.

“Maren? Trinity?” I rush inside to find my friends huddled together with Willa. Maren and Trinity are in bad shape—bruised, cut and bloody from the crash. Willa looks okay but it’s impossible to know what they’ve been through.

“Oh my God…Sarah! You’re alive!” I rush into the room while the three aliens watch us from outside the door. At first, they’re too excited to see me and I’m too excited to see them to care about the aliens. But it doesn’t take long before they notice them.

“Sarah—“ Maren asks. “Who the hell are they?”

All three of them are staring behind me now as I think of how to respond. “My rescuer and possibly my captor? I don’t know what they want. We have no way to communicate with them.”

It’s at that moment the three aliens step further into the room as if they’ve made a decision. Since we have nowhere to go and no one else to save us, it looks like we’ll be going along with whatever they decide whether we like it or not.

At least for now.